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It’s raining here this morning. And it’s a bit nippy, and by nippy I mean it’s hovering around 50 degrees. I don’t mind the cooler weather but the rain threw a hitch in my plans because I didn’t feel like running it in this morning. I mean, I tried to, but I came back after only a mile and a half.

I can’t believe I’ve been actually telling people how much I love to run in the rain for all these years because apparently I don’t.

So there’s that.

I finally put up some outside decorations. I didn’t put a lot but I did find one in particular that I had to have. Can you guess which one it is?

You would think that because it looks like him Hank would be fond of it but no, he already peed on it. Bastard.

For the next two weeks I am reviewing a technical gadget and I can’t wait to let you know how it performs. So stay tuned for that. I got it yesterday and I’m super excited about it. You know how I love gadgets!

Yesterday America lost a true hero, John Glenn. I really wanted to fact check this morning and write a tribute because I want as many people as possible to know as much about this man as they possibly can. This is a man who married his high school sweetheart and whom he has remained married to for 70 years! A man who not only traveled to space in his forties but returned to space in his seventies to help study the effects of aging.

John Glenn was a humble distinguished American hero and If you’d like to learn more about the great man that John Glenn was visit this Wikipedia page.

It’s your best bet. I checked all the news feeds this morning and the top story was how Kanye recently resurfaced with blond hair….

One last thing, Gatlingburg re-opens today and I mentioned earlier in the week that my Grandpa and my Dad and Uncles built the train that was used at Dollywood. Well, my sweet cousin had a picture and she posted it on my facebook page for me. This made my whole week!

I am pretty sure that I’ve come up with the absolute perfect gift for just about anyone on your list this year. Anyone.

I’m sure you’ve seen all the gift lists for the newbie runners, the elite runners, the injured runners, the runner who has everything, yada, yada, yada. I mean let’s face it, we all want everyone to love running as much as we do be because basically we’re jacked up on all kinds of runner endorphins and we’re happy. So we love the running gadgets and we love to tell you what to buy.

Because we want you to be happy. We want to you to go for a run every day and feel like you can fly. (Even though we know that won’t always be the case, we hope that it will happen for you and us as well.) And do you know why?

Because we just love running.

And that’s why the best gift you can get for any runner, newbie, experienced or even someone who maybe just wants to be a runner but hasn’t made the the commitment yet, is….

A RACE ENTRY!

Who wouldn’t love a free race entry with a T-shirt and a chance to run with friends? Uh, nobody? Just be sure to choose the right race for the right person.

Last night MacGyver and I went to Costco to pick up the essentials and by essentials I mean a 30 pound bag of dog food because really, what else could two people actually need from Costco?

Besides eating all the snacks, while we were there we walked around checking out all the holiday gift items and I noticed they were all the same as last year. Unfortunately MacGyver did not. Well, not until I pointed it out to him AFTER he suggested he get a few of them for me as Christmas presents. That’s when I reminded him that he already did, LAST YEAR!

He asked me if I was sure

And then he asked me what I did with them? I assured him we no longer had them. At first he asked me if we used them or if they broke and then he thought about it. I mean seriously how would you use a yonana frozen treat maker so much that you’d actually break it? Or a fancy super-sized dish drainer? Then he said, ‘those were not very good gifts and you returned them huh?’

Let’s not last minute shop at Costco this year sweetie, okay?

I read a story yesterday about a woman who ran who very first half marathon over the weekend near my vacation house in Venice. Her very first half marathon. FIRST. Remember that. Now, y’all remember back to how nervous you were the very first time you ever ran a half marathon. Remember the jitters? The unknowns? Remember how unsure you were?

Now, keep that in mind and let me tell you about Melissa Kitcher.

She ran her very first half marathon this past weekend and she chose the Trail Hog 13.1 which is a trail run at the T. Mabry Carlton Reserve. This is not an easy race and it is definitely a trail. There are roots and shrubs and bugs and mosquitoes and there have even been panthers spotted in that reserve. It’s a beautiful place and I’m sure the course if spectacular but I’m not sure I would have chosen it as a first race but Melissa did.

Somewhere around the third mile Melissa took a wrong turn and that’s when things went downhill. By her own estimates, Melissa says she probably went about 7 miles off course and then turned around and headed back when she realized she had gone the wrong way but by that time she was lost and realized no one was looking for her. She had brought along a cell phone but it stopped working before the race even started. She had no choice but to keep going so that’s what she did.

Melissa’s husband called the race director at 4:30 when she didn’t return and a search party located her 12 hours after the race started! How’s that for a first half marathon experience? It hasn’t stopped Melissa, she says she’ll be running the Sarasota Half Marathon in March and Melissa, if you want, I’ll run it with you, I’m directionally challenged myself, probably more so than you, I’ve gotten lost during a regular race on a route in my own neighborhood that I run weekly!

Melissa ended up running over 16 miles in those 12 hours on some pretty bad ass trails so in my opinion she’s one pretty tough runner!

WTF it’s Wednesday and that’s one heck of a first half marathon story!